


Let 'Em Touch

by LT_Aldo_Raine



Series: jealous? [1]
Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Boys In Love, Could Be Canon, Jealousy, M/M, but not the way you think, could be modern au, faithfulness, sorta fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-06-25 06:53:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19740490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LT_Aldo_Raine/pseuds/LT_Aldo_Raine
Summary: Gene looked at Babe, plainly, and asked, “Did he fuck you?”OR: Babe gets groped at a bar and questions of jealousy arise—but not at all in the way you'd think.





	Let 'Em Touch

**Author's Note:**

> I'm supposed to be writing the last chapter of my masters dissertation, but, um...this happened, instead.

“Why aren’t ya jealous?”

“What do I got to be jealous of?”

“Excuse—? Fuckin’, _what_? Me!”

Gene looked at Babe, plainly, and asked, “He fuck you?”

“What?!” Babe’s stomach dropped and he braced his arms against their kitchen table. “No, of course not. How the fuck could you think that, Gene? Jesus Christ.”

This conversation was rapidly spiraling out of control. This was _not_ how Babe thought this shit would go down. He had wanted an apology, maybe a little groveling, and for Gene to at least have the goddamn decency to look repentant. The redhead’s ire and irritation were only magnified when Gene shrugged simply, “Okay, then.”

“Oh, what, so because we didn’t fuck it’s alright? The guy had his hands _all over me,_ and you’re just okay with it?”

“You’re a big boy, Heffron. You don’t want him to touch ya, you can stop ‘im.” Gene told him, his tone suggesting that it was obvious, not even bothering to look up from the pile of potatoes he was currently peeling.

Babe scoffed, incredulity coiling in his stomach. “You’re un-fucking-believable. I can’t believe ya ain’t even a little bit jealous. I mean, I get it, ya not the territorial type or whateva, but fuck’s sake, Gene, the guy was practically beggin’ for it.”

“So, let him beg.”

And it was the Cajun’s affable, unaffected tone that did Babe over. He stood, abruptly, and declared, “Man, fuck this,” before he stormed from the kitchen. The redhead made it all of two steps into the living room until Gene caught him by the arm.

When their eyes met, Babe’s were full of anger and disappointment (and, perhaps, a little bit of hurt) and Gene’s were full of love and patience and calm. “Babe,” he murmured in that low soulful way that went straight to Babe’s heart, curling around it like a warm, comforting hug. _Bay-buh._ “I ain’t jealous.”

Babe gritted his teeth and yanked his arm from his lover’s grip. “Yeah, ya made it pretty fuckin’ clear.”

The redhead’s anger only seemed to endear Gene, the Cajun’s eyes wrinkling softly, his expression opening in earnest. “Babe…I ain’t jealous ‘cause I don’t got nothin’ to be jealous of. That man from the bar? He can touch you all he likes, so long as you let him. It’s yo’ body. If it don’t bother you, it don’t bother me—because I know that’s all it’ll eva be.”

Gene captured Babe’s hands in his own and tugged the taller man toward the living room sofa. The morning sun was gently streaming in through the open window, and Babe tried not to notice how the early light haloed Gene’s dark hair. Their knees brushing, Gene held Babe’s hands in his lap as he implored the redhead to hear him out. “I trust you, Babe, trust you with my whole heart. I know that every goddamn man from here to Tennessee could come on to ya, and you’d neva let it go anywhere. I know that you would neva be unfaithful…” Slender fingers moved to cup a pale, freckled cheek. “I know that ain’t nobody else gonna kiss you—” A thumb stroked over a pouty bottom lip. “Ain’t nobody else eva gonna get to hold you and cherish you—” Fingers skimmed through a mess of sleep-tousled red hair. “And certainly, ain’t nobody else eva gonna make love to ya.”

“So,” Gene continued. “Let ‘em look, let ‘em touch, if ya want… ‘cause at the end of the day, they can desire you all they like, but its me you’re comin’ home with. Me that’s gonna get to touch you and tease you and fuck you and love you. So, why on earth would I be jealous of them when I get _you_? Hell, Babe, they should all be jealous of me.”

The Cajun held Babe’s face in his hands, eyes all sincere and doting, full of unrestricted adoration, and Babe felt his annoyance and hurt all but melt away. He shut his eyes against the crushing weight of Gene Roe’s undying devotion. “Well, great. Now, I feel like a jackass.”

Gene gave a surprised laugh. “Don’t.” He leaned forward to press a kiss to Babe’s lips, and the taller man’s eyes fluttered open. “Frankly, I think its kinda adorable, and maybe even a lil’ bit sexy, the way ya get all riled up over this kinda stuff.”

“And now ya mockin’ me.” Babe snorted. “Perfect.”

But Gene was smiling, and Babe felt loved, and so his voice was only partially heated when he asked, “Fine, ya love me, ya trust me, whateva. Is it still too much to ask that you hit a guy once in a while for groping me?”

“Ya know I ain’t the violent type…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know…”

Amused, Gene kissed him again and made a suggestion. “How’s about next time, I don’t hit nobody, but I can at least pretend to get jealous for ya.”

“…in front of people? Like, in public?”

“Sure, Babe, in public.”

“Deal.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thinking about doing an alternate version of this wherein Gene actually does get jealous...


End file.
